In much the way a phonograph needle can decipher music in a record's grooves, the AFM needle is sensitive enough to show very tiny details (nanometer scale) at incredibly high speeds.

Among nine various AFM instruments, UNMC houses a unique atomic force microscope, high-speed AFM. This instrument is capable of the time-lapse nanoscale imaging with video rate.

Until UC Berkley recently acquired a similar instrument, UNMC's was the only one of its kind in the U.S.

Yet it's kept without fanfare at the College of Pharmacy, behind an ordinary (locked) door, housed in a closet-sized room. Chances are you haven't even heard it's on campus.

But it allows Dr. Lyubchenko's lab and others to do the kind of work that moves the needle -- so to speak.

It holds a unique capability to manipulate single molecules and measure their interaction.

This property was especially important when looking into neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's, Huntington's and Parkinson's diseases.

Those diseases are caused by the misfolding and aggregation of proteins. When misfolded states are probed with AFM-force spectroscopy, UNMC scientists are able to identify them and characterize their properties. Researchers are then able to see why this misfolding and aggregation is so devastating.

"The major finding," said Dr. Lyubchenko, "is that a misfolding dimer has an extremely long lifetime."

A dimer is comprised of two bonded, structurally similar monomers, the building blocks of complex molecules.

"The high stability of misfolded dimers is a fundamental finding, suggesting that the formation of dimers leads to enormous stabilization of the protein misfolded state."

Likewise, scientists know that the protein APOBEC3G can block HIV replication. But there are still many details to discover, in order to definitively determine the process.

With the high-speed AFM technology, Dr. Lyubchenko and his team study the nanoscale structure and dynamics of APOBEC3G complexes with the DNA target.

They can actually image what happens.

UNMC scientists also are looking for ways to take advantage of AFM technologies in molecular pharmacology, drug design and other biomedical areas.

Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu.

TO: All Media

I’m including a video detailing the atomic force microscope. Feel free to use this video. If you wish, we would be happy to send you sound bites and/or b-roll footage. Thanks for your consideration.